Matra Marconi Space
Encyclopedia
Matra Marconi Space was a Franco
-British
aerospace company
.
(Matra Espace
) and the GEC group (Marconi Space Systems).
The merged company was announced in December 1989 and was owned 51% by Matra and 49% by GEC-Marconi. It would have annual sales of £300 million, with £8.7 million in assets from Marconi Space Systems and £10.7 million in assets from Matra Espace.
Claude Goumy, the Managing Director of Matra Espace was the first Managing Director. The first deputy Managing Director was Richard Wignall, the former Managing Director of Marconi Space Systems. The space industry was important to France - almost half the budget of the European Space Agency
(ESA) came from the French government.
was discussing with MMS how to merge their space interests, as well as Robert Bosch GmbH
and Deutsche Aerospace.
On 19 July 1994 it acquired British Aerospace Space Systems
(a subsidiary of BAe Dynamics
with 900 workers) for £56 million.
On 11 August 1994 it bought Ferranti Satcomms
(from administration
), which was based in Poynton
in Cheshire
. Ferranti Satcomms brought satellite ground station, component and subsystem technologies to the group.
In July 1995, GEC bought 45% of shares in the National Remote Sensing Centre for the company. Also in July 1995, the company was looking to link up with Aérospatiale
of Toulouse and DASA of Germany to form a Europe-wide space company. The company would (five years later) link up with DASA.
By 1996 the company was turning over more than £1 billion. In the late 1990s it developed a partnership with the University of Sheffield
's Sheffield Centre for Earth Observation Science (SCEOS), which reserached interferometry
.
In November 1997 it announced that it would close the Filton site (former BAe Dynamics
), at a loss of 400 jobs, in August 1999. The Filton site specialised in scientific satellites and their computer software.
British Aerospace regained an interest in the company when it merged with GEC's Marconi Electronic Systems
to form BAE Systems
in November 1999.
In 2000, it was merged with the space division of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA) to form Astrium.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
aerospace company
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
.
History
Matra Marconi Space was established in 1990 as a joint venture between the space and telecommunication divisions of the Lagardère GroupLagardère Group
Lagardère is a French-based multinational conglomerate headquartered in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The group once covered a broad range of industries but is now largely focused on the media sector, in which it is one of the world’s leading companies...
(Matra Espace
Matra
Mécanique Aviation Traction or Matra was a French company covering a wide range of activities mainly related to automobile, bicycles, aeronautics and weaponry. In 1994, it became a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group and now operates under that name.Matra was owned by the Floirat family...
) and the GEC group (Marconi Space Systems).
The merged company was announced in December 1989 and was owned 51% by Matra and 49% by GEC-Marconi. It would have annual sales of £300 million, with £8.7 million in assets from Marconi Space Systems and £10.7 million in assets from Matra Espace.
Claude Goumy, the Managing Director of Matra Espace was the first Managing Director. The first deputy Managing Director was Richard Wignall, the former Managing Director of Marconi Space Systems. The space industry was important to France - almost half the budget of the European Space Agency
European Space Agency
The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...
(ESA) came from the French government.
Acquisitions
In 1991, British AerospaceBritish Aerospace
British Aerospace plc was a UK aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was in the Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire...
was discussing with MMS how to merge their space interests, as well as Robert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch GmbH is a multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. It is the world's largest supplier of automotive components...
and Deutsche Aerospace.
On 19 July 1994 it acquired British Aerospace Space Systems
British Aerospace Space Systems
British Aerospace Space Systems Ltd was a subsidiary of British Aerospace.In 1994, it was sold to Matra Marconi Space, which also acquired Ferranti Satcomms at the same time. British Aerospace regained an interest in the company when it merged with GEC's Marconi Electronic Systems to form BAE Systems...
(a subsidiary of BAe Dynamics
BAe Dynamics
British Aerospace Dynamics Limited was a division of British Aerospace.-History:British Aerospace was created in April 1977 by the merger of the British Aircraft Corporation, Hawker Siddeley Aviation, Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and Scottish Aviation.-Formation:There were two companies in the...
with 900 workers) for £56 million.
On 11 August 1994 it bought Ferranti Satcomms
Ferranti
Ferranti or Ferranti International plc was a UK electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century from 1885 until it went bankrupt in 1993. Known primarily for defence electronics, the Company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but ceased trading in 1993.The...
(from administration
Administration (insolvency)
As a legal concept, administration is a procedure under the insolvency laws of a number of common law jurisdictions. It functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent entities and allows them to carry on running their business. The process – an alternative to liquidation – is often known as going...
), which was based in Poynton
Poynton
Poynton is a town within the civil parish of Poynton-with-Worth, and the unitary authority area of Cheshire East, England. For ceremonial purposes it is part of the county of Cheshire. Poynton is located at the eastern most fringe of the Cheshire Plain, north of Macclesfield, south of Stockport...
in Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
. Ferranti Satcomms brought satellite ground station, component and subsystem technologies to the group.
In July 1995, GEC bought 45% of shares in the National Remote Sensing Centre for the company. Also in July 1995, the company was looking to link up with Aérospatiale
Aérospatiale
Aérospatiale was a French aerospace manufacturer that built both civilian and military aircraft, rockets and satellites. It was originally known as Société Nationale Industrielle Aérospatiale...
of Toulouse and DASA of Germany to form a Europe-wide space company. The company would (five years later) link up with DASA.
By 1996 the company was turning over more than £1 billion. In the late 1990s it developed a partnership with the University of Sheffield
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
's Sheffield Centre for Earth Observation Science (SCEOS), which reserached interferometry
Interferometry
Interferometry refers to a family of techniques in which electromagnetic waves are superimposed in order to extract information about the waves. An instrument used to interfere waves is called an interferometer. Interferometry is an important investigative technique in the fields of astronomy,...
.
In November 1997 it announced that it would close the Filton site (former BAe Dynamics
BAe Dynamics
British Aerospace Dynamics Limited was a division of British Aerospace.-History:British Aerospace was created in April 1977 by the merger of the British Aircraft Corporation, Hawker Siddeley Aviation, Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and Scottish Aviation.-Formation:There were two companies in the...
), at a loss of 400 jobs, in August 1999. The Filton site specialised in scientific satellites and their computer software.
British Aerospace regained an interest in the company when it merged with GEC's Marconi Electronic Systems
Marconi Electronic Systems
Marconi Electronic Systems , or GEC-Marconi as it was until 1998, was the defence arm of The General Electric Company . It was demerged from GEC and acquired by British Aerospace on November 30, 1999 to form BAE Systems...
to form BAE Systems
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is among the world's largest military contractors; in 2009 it was the...
in November 1999.
EADS Astrium
In late 1998 it was discussing a possible merger with DASA.In 2000, it was merged with the space division of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA) to form Astrium.
Products
- Skylark (rocket)Skylark (rocket)Skylark was a British sounding rocket design. The Skylark was first launched in 1957 from Woomera, Australia and its 441st and final launch took place from Esrange, Sweden on 2 May 2005...
, sounding rocketSounding rocketA sounding rocket, sometimes called a research rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The origin of the term comes from nautical vocabulary, where to sound is to throw a weighted line from a ship into...
designed earlier in the 1960s, last launched on 2 May 2005 (its 441st flight - Maser 10Maser (rocket)Maser is a sounding rocket that is used in the MASER microgravity research rocket programme, which is operated by the Swedish Space Corporation . The main customer is the European Space Agency , and in particular its EMIR and ELIPS programmes....
) from the EsrangeEsrangeEsrange Space Center is a rocket range and research centre located outside the town of Kiruna in northern Sweden. It is a base for scientific research with high altitude balloons, investigation of the aurora borealis, sounding rocket launches, and satellite tracking, among other things...
site of the Swedish Space CorporationSwedish Space CorporationThe Swedish Space Corporation is a comprehensive space company covering the entire field, from the definition of innovative business concepts and space projects to the development, tests and operation of the systems.... - Radar for the European Remote-Sensing SatelliteEuropean Remote-Sensing SatelliteEuropean remote sensing satellite was the European Space Agency's first Earth-observing satellite. It was launched on July 17, 1991 into a Sun-synchronous polar orbit at a height of 782–785 km.-Instruments:...
(ERS-1) - Altitude and orbit-control system for XMM-NewtonXMM-NewtonThe XMM-Newton is an orbiting X-ray observatory launched by ESA in December 1999 on a Ariane 5 rocket...
, which launched in December 1999 - Advanced synthetic aperture radarSynthetic aperture radarSynthetic-aperture radar is a form of radar whose defining characteristic is its use of relative motion between an antenna and its target region to provide distinctive long-term coherent-signal variations that are exploited to obtain finer spatial resolution than is possible with conventional...
(ASAR) on the EnvisatEnvisatEnvisat is an Earth-observing satellite. It was launched on 1 March 2002 aboard an Ariane 5 from the Guyana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guyana into a Sun synchronous polar orbit at an altitude of... - Propulsion systems (built at Filton) for four Cluster satellites, which were destroyed in June 1996 on the Ariane 5 Flight 501Ariane 5 Flight 501Cluster was a constellation of four European Space Agency spacecraft which were launched on the maiden flight of the Ariane 5 rocket, Flight 501, and subsequently lost when that rocket failed to achieve orbit. The launch, which took place on Tuesday, June 4, 1996, ended in failure due to an error...
- Technologies for Artemis (satellite)Artemis (satellite)Artemis is a geostationary earth orbit satellite for telecommunications, built for and owned by ESA. The Artemis satellite operates at the 21.5E orbital position....
Satellites
- AfriStarAfriStarAfriStar is a satellite family, operated by 1worldspace.The orbiting satellites and the satellite in storage were built by Alcatel Space and EADS Astrium, formerly known as Matra Marconi Space...
, constructed with Alcatel SpaceThales Alenia SpaceThales Alenia Space is an aerospace company born after the Thales Group bought the participation of Alcatel in the two joint-ventures between Alcatel and Finmeccanica, Alcatel Alenia Space and Telespazio.-History:... - AsiaStarAsiaStarAsiaStar is an American communications satellite which is operated by 1worldspace. It was constructed by Alcatel Space and Matra Marconi Space based on the Eurostar E2000+ bus design. Launch occurred on 21 March 2000, at 23:28 GMT. The launch was contracted by Arianespace, and used an Ariane 5G...
, constructed with Alcatel SpaceThales Alenia SpaceThales Alenia Space is an aerospace company born after the Thales Group bought the participation of Alcatel in the two joint-ventures between Alcatel and Finmeccanica, Alcatel Alenia Space and Telespazio.-History:... - HéliosHelios 1BThe Hélios 1B was a French military photo-reconnaissance satellite in which Italy and Spain also participated. It was launched from the Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana on 3 December 1999 at 16:22:00 UTC. The spacecraft rode aboard an Ariane 40 rocket which also carried the French military...
(Europe's first) spy satellite - HipparcosHipparcosHipparcos was a scientific mission of the European Space Agency , launched in 1989 and operated between 1989 and 1993. It was the first space experiment devoted to precision astrometry, the accurate measurement of the positions of celestial objects on the sky...
, constructed with Alenia SpazioThales Alenia SpaceThales Alenia Space is an aerospace company born after the Thales Group bought the participation of Alcatel in the two joint-ventures between Alcatel and Finmeccanica, Alcatel Alenia Space and Telespazio.-History:... - Hot Bird 2Hot BirdHot Bird is the name of a popular family of satellites operated by Eutelsat, located at 13°E over the Equator and with a transmitting footprint over Europe, North Africa and the Middle East....
, the largest satellite made in Europe at the time and launched in November 1996, and other later Hot Bird satellites for EutelsatEutelsatEutelsat S.A. is a French-based satellite provider. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, it is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues.Eutelsat’s satellites...
(French) - Humidity Sounder for BrazilHumidity Sounder for BrazilThe Humidity Sounder for Brazil was an instrument launched on NASA's Earth Observing System satellite Aqua launched in May 2002. It was a four-channel passive microwave radiometer, with one channel at 150 GHz and three channels at 183 GHz. It was very similar in design to the AMSU-B instrument,...
- launched May 2002 - Early InmarsatInmarsatInmarsat plc is a British satellite telecommunications company, offering global, mobile services. It provides telephony and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate to ground stations through eleven geostationary telecommunications satellites...
satellites - Nilesat 101Nilesat 101Nilesat 101 is an Egyptian owned geosynchronous communications satellite.Launched by an Ariane 4 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana on 28 April 1998 at 22:53:00 UTC by the European Space Agency, it was manufactured by the European company Matra Marconi Space , and started official broadcasting on 31...
- launched April 1998, for ERTUERTUThe Egyptian Radio and Television Union , Ittihād al-Idhā‘ah wal-Tilīfizyūn al-Miṣrī), is the public broadcaster of Egypt, operated by the Egyptian government... - Nilesat 102Nilesat 102Nilesat 102 is an Egyptian owned geosynchronous communications satellite that was launched by an Ariane 44LP rocket from Kourou, French Guiana on August 17, 2000 at 23:16 UTC by the European Space Agency. It was manufactured by the European company Matra Marconi Space , and started official...
- launched August 2000 - Skynet (satellite)
- Solar and Heliospheric ObservatorySolar and Heliospheric ObservatoryThe Solar and Heliospheric Observatory is a spacecraft built by a European industrial consortium led by Matra Marconi Space that was launched on a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS launch vehicle on December 2, 1995 to study the Sun, and has discovered over 2100 comets. It began normal operations in May...
- launched December 1995 - Three satellites for 1worldspace, launched in 1999
See also
- Matra BAe DynamicsMatra BAe DynamicsMatra BAe Dynamics was formed in August 1996 by merger of half the missile business of Matra Defense of France and BAe Dynamics of the UK and was Europe's largest manufacturer of missiles and UAVs....
, related missile company - GEC AlsthomAlstomAlstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
, another GEC Anglo-French company